One Step Ahead
by PyRoMaNiAc2008
Summary: How Different would Children of Earth been if Alice had let Jack take Steven to the Hub for tests? Au/fix-it.


**Title: One Step Ahead  
Summery: How different would COE been had if Alice had let Jack take Stephen to the Hub for tests?  
Rating: Teen for swearing, violence, slash and Jack Harkness style deaths.  
Fandom: Torchwood  
Pairings/Characters: Jack/Ianto, Gwen/Rhys, Alice, Stephen, others**

**A/N: My characters are a little bit different. Alice isn't quite so harsh, Ianto is more open and Jack refused to deliver the children in 1964. **

**Jack sat at his daughter's kitchen table, watching as Alice helped Stephan tie his shoes before ushering him outside so they could talk. It had been awhile since he had been inside his daughter's house; it had been Stephan's birthday if he remembered correctly. That had been almost a year ago, and it was only at Stephen's insistence that Jack be invited. Alice didn't like having him around very much. **

**He was jerked from his slightly depressing thoughts by Alice clearing her throat. He looked up and smiled at her, she looked so much like her mother…**

"**Why are you here?" Alice asked him warily. The wariness made Jack frown, he hated that Alice seemed so afraid of him, so reluctant to let him into her life.**

"**I wanted to make sure Stephan was alright, that that thing didn't hurt him." That was the truth, after the children had stopped talking and Ianto had gone to his sisters to check on his niece and nephew Jack had let his worry for the family no one knew he had surface, going to Alice's to make sure his grandson was okay. **

**Alice glared at him "I'm not letting you run tests on him Dad." **

**Jack flinched at the accusation. He shut his eyes against the hurt and pain that his daughter would think he would hurt Stephan. He adored the little boy, spoiled him as much as Alice let him, and even insisted on setting up a force field around the boy so any one who intended to harm him couldn't get within ten feet. The very thought of hurting him was abhorrent to Jack. "I wouldn't hurt him and you know that. We have no idea what caused this or what it did to the kids. All I want to do is run a scanner over him, make sure it didn't harm him. That's all." **

**Alice shook her head "I know Torchwood dad, everyone around them gets hurt. I'm not exposing Stephan to that!" **

"**Alice please! I just want to take him to the hub, have Ianto check him over; you can come to, to supervise." Ianto had taken over most of the jobs Owen left behind. The Welshman had been trained in first aid by One and was proving to be a competent medic. **

"**I don't even know this Ianto, why would I let someone I've never met look at my son?" **

**Jack silently groaned. How was he going to explain to his daughter about his lover that was fourteen years younger than her? **

"**Ianto is…my partner. He is the most trustworthy man I know." Jack slipped the small picture he carried of Ianto out of his coat and handed it to Alice. It had been snapped on the sly while Ianto had been talking to Tosh, a broad grin on his face that made him look his age. **

"**He's very young. Does he know…?" **

"**Ianto knows everything, I don't keep secrets from him. He knows and he hasn't run away yet." Jack half hoped he would, that he would leave Jack and Torchwood and live a long safe life. **

**Alice nodded and handed the picture back "Who's the woman with him?" Alice might have pushed her father away but she still wanted to know about his life. **

**A sad smile crossed Jack's face "That was Tosh, she was our computer expert and the best friend a man could have. She was…killed a few months ago." **

**Alice recalled the explosions and the sight of her distraught father knocking at her door at nearly four in the morning, asking if she was alright while trying to wipe away the tears in his eyes. She reached across the table and took her father's hand and squeezed it. "I'm sorry." **

**Jack smiled grimly "Like you said, Torchwood hurts people." He stood and straightened his coat "I better go, got a city to look after." **

**Alice stood and stopped her father "Let me get my purse, then you can introduce me to this Ianto while he sees to Stephan." **

**Jack's smile was blinding "You've changed your mind? Why?" **

**Alice smiled slightly "Because Torchwood also helps people." **

**Ianto waited on the Plass nervously. Jack had called him fifteen minutes ago to tell him he was bringing his daughter and grandson back to the Hub. Of course he knew about Alice and Stephan Carter, but knowing and meeting were two different things. And God only knew what Jack had told her. When the minivan pulled up and Jack slid out of the passenger seat Ianto instinctively straightened and slipped into what Owen had affectionately called his 'Teaboy' mode. **

**Jack stepped up to Ianto and softly kissed him on the cheek, causing him to jerk in surprise. Had Jack told his daughter they were together? Jack smiled and pulled him to the van, as an older woman and a young boy got out. **

"**Alice, this is Ianto, Ianto this is Alice." He scooped the boy up and turned to face Ianto "And this is Stephan." **

**Stephan grinned at Ianto and stuck his hand out, Ianto smiled at shook it. "Pleased to meet you both, Jack speaks about you both fondly." Jack could go on for days about Stephan, bouncing around like he was a little boy himself. But talk of Alice always brought more shadows in Jacks eyes. **

"**Alice agreed to let you scan Stephan, to make sure whatever happened didn't leave any side effects." Jack explained. Then, still holding Stephan he grabbed Alice's hand and pulled them on the lift. Ianto sighed. He really didn't like the lift, but it amused Jack to see the reactions when they seldom brought people down it. As it started to descend he saw the shock on Alice's face, the awe on Stephan's, Jack's smirk and he rolled his eyes. **

**Jack had gone into his office after assuring Alice that Myfanwy wasn't going to swoop down and try and eat Stephan, leaving Ianto alone with Jack's offspring. He settled Stephan in the gurney and turned around to ready the equipment. "What did Jack tell you about me?" He asked softly. **

"**That you were his partner." Alice said bluntly. **

**His partner? Jack grimaced whenever someone called them a couple, why would he call Ianto his partner? While it confused him it also made him smile, he had considered himself Jack's partner for awhile. After the Captain moved in and assured Ianto that he was the only one he was with. But to know that Jack considered himself Ianto's partner as well was something Ianto had doubted would ever happen. "You're very calm for someone whose father has a partner more than a decade younger." Not that Ianto really cared what other people thought…but this was Jack's daughter.**

"**I accepted long ago that anyone dad was with would be younger than me. Although twenty six is younger than I thought." **

"**Yes Jack's been accused several times of robbing the cradle." Ianto snorted, the general public they associated with thought Jack to be in his early forties, if only they knew Jack's real age! **

"**There's at least a century between the two of you, doesn't that bother you?" Alice was genuinely curious how the young man handled to age gap between them. **

**Ianto shrugged "Not really, I don't plan on being in Jack's life very long; Torchwood has a rather low like expectancy. I've worked for Torchwood for six years. Longer than I hoped. At least I don't have to worry about Jack dying on me; I've had enough of that." Ianto smiled and turned back to Stephan setting up the scanner that would monitor for anything alien. **

**Alice was amazed at Ianto's cavalier dismissal of his life and Jack's immortality. It constantly bothered her that he would outlive her, but it didn't seem to faze Ianto.**

**He turned back to her "The scan will take about thirty minutes. Could I get you a cup of coffee?" **

**Alice nodded and he smiled and walked away leaving her and Stephan alone. A few seconds later Jack appeared at the top of the stairs. Alice joined him and they watched Stephan flip through the comic he had brought along. **

"**How do you like Ianto?" Jack asked, breaking the silence of the medical bay. **

"**He's nice. Very polite." **

**Jack chuckled "Yeah that's Ianto, polite to a fault." **

"**I asked him who he dealt with the age gap between you two." **

**Jack turned to Alice "Really? What did he say?" **

"**That it didn't bother him because he doesn't plan on living long enough for it to affect him." **

**Jack sighed and hung his head "Ianto's seen more death than a man of his age should. There have been too many close calls. I know one day I'll lose him. That might be what finally kills me." He looked up at Alice "Ianto taught me how to live again; I was drifting until he came along. I truly don't think I would survive without him. He makes me human." **

"**You love him." It wasn't a question. Alice could clearly see how much the young Welshman meant to her father. **

"**More than he'll ever know." **

**Their conversation came to an end when Ianto returned with Alice's coffee. Jack returned to his office and Ianto monitored that machines hooked up to Stephan. **

**Thirty minutes later the machines started beeping frantically, caused Stephan to jump and Jack to bound out of his office. **

"**Ianto! Report!" Jack was in full captain mode, it was interesting to watch. **

"**The scanners picked up traces of some kind of frequency, alien obviously." The furious tapping of computer keys followed Ianto's voice "Its registering as…456." He looked to Jack "Have you ever heard of that before?" **

**The furious look on Jack's face answered the question for him. When Jack stormed out of the medical bay muttering curses under his breath Ianto and Alice quickly assured Stephan that he would be fine, then ran after Jack. **

**Jack was pacing the floor of the Hub, running his fingers through his hair and muttering in languages Ianto didn't think existed yet. **

"**Jack what's going on?" Ianto asked, stepping in Jack's path. It was a move that could be dangerous depending on the captain's mood and one that only Ianto could get away with. **

**Jack growled then sighed, slumping down in Gwen's seat. He looked up at Ianto and Alice "The 456 is an alien race. That's not their name but the frequency they use. They were here in 1964. They didn't use children to communicate but…they wanted children." He sighed and ran his fingers through his already messed up hair "The 456 ordered the government to hand over twelve children to them. They threatened us with a virus and Torchwood delivered." Jack said darkly "Torchwood rounded up twelve orphans, children they didn't think would be missed and ordered me to make the delivery." **

**Alice gasped "You delivered them?" Had her father sent twelve innocent children to their deaths? **

"**No!" Jack barked "God no! I refused, said I would have no part in it. They didn't take to kindly to me disobeying direct orders but I would gladly take their punishment if it meant not having that on my hands." **

"**They killed you." Ianto whispered. He hated hearing about Jack's deaths. While he knew Jack would always come back, he was still scared that one day whatever was bringing him back would run out. **

"**Several times." Jack sighed. He didn't like talking about past deaths. Not only did he not like thinking about it but he knew the hurt it caused Ianto. He liked that Ianto worried about him, he knew that Gwen didn't, and that she took it for granted that he would come back and didn't think beyond that. But Ianto knew, knew what it cost Jack and he cared. **

"**But that's beside the point. If the 456 are back, they'll want kids again and I'll bet they want more than twelve this time." **

**Alice sat on the ragged couch under the Torchwood sign. Stephan was in Jack's office, 'helping' his uncle Jack. She had to cover her laughter when Ianto looked up and twitched as he saw Jack hand over a pencil and some paperwork. The Welshman and a woman who'd been introduced as Gwen Cooper were typing away on their computers, trying to find the whereabouts of this 456. Alice wondered just how many team mates they had lost along with Tosh. There were two empty desks in the main area, and she had a feeling Ianto was not the Torchwood doctor. **

**Getting off the couch she walked to the desk where Ianto was staring intently into the computer screen "Is there anything I can do to help?" She asked. **

**Ianto jumped slightly when she laid her hand on his shoulder and twisted around to look at her. "Not really, all I'm doing is filtering through government files. Not much to do but wait." He glanced up at Jack's office. "Although Jack is brooding, I think he's blaming himself." Alice could do what she wanted with that, he wasn't going to ask her to talk to Jack; he knew how much tension was between father and daughter. **

**Alice smiled at Ianto's subtle hint. "I may not be the best daughter in the world but I won't let him sit up there and blame himself for something he couldn't prevent." **

**Ianto blushed and stuttered, trying to cover his apparently not so subtle suggestion "I didn't mean to imply—"**

**Alice cut him off "I know you didn't it's alright, but it's true I pushed him away when all he wanted to do was help." **

"**All he ever wants to do is help. It's caused him more grief and pain than he should have to endure." Ianto sighed. From his own betrayal, to Jasmine and Mary, to the team mutiny and Owen's living death. They all had hurt Jack, had caused him pain and still the man wanted to help, he would forgive them a hundred times over with no thought to what it did to him. **

**Alice smiled and squeezed his shoulder "I'll go drag him out of his hole. **

**Jack sat alone in his office, staring sadly out at his partner and daughter. He had sent a sleepy Stephan down into his bunk and had been brooding for a good ten minutes. When he saw Alice head up toward him he sighed and mentally prepared he for the worse, sure that she had only held back because of Ianto. She pushed his door open and stood in the doorway. When she glanced around and took in his empty office he answered her unasked question. "He got tired so I sent him to my bunk." Jack pointed at the half closed entrance. **

**Alice nodded and sat in the chair across from him. What she said shocked him "Please don't blame yourself dad, it really wasn't your fault." **

**Jack snorted "Of course it was, I was the only one who had a chance of stopping them, no matter what they did it wouldn't have affected me long, but I didn't, I let a little torture stop me from saving the lives of twelve children!" he slammed his fist into his desk disgusted with his past self. **

**Alice stood and walked briskly around his desk, pulling the chair out and turning her father to face her. "Dad it was not your fault! Ianto doesn't blame you and I don't blame you. What happened was horrible and it makes me hate Torchwood even more but I sincerely doubt that anyone could have stopped them." **

**Jack looked up at her, insecurity dulling his normally so expressive blue eyes. "You don't hate me even more? I was so afraid you would take Stephan and run." **

**Alice felt horrible as she saw the full affect of what she had done to her father. She felt selfish, only thinking about herself and never about how her actions might affect Jack. "I've never hated you dad. I've not liked you very much, but never have I hated you. I am so sorry I never considered your feelings. I just took everything mum said as the truth, never asked your side." She felt tears well up in her eyes, and when Jack took her into his arms, so much like he would do when she was little, she was so glad she hadn't completely destroyed their relationship. **

**When they pulled away, Alice stepped back and smiled brightly at Jack "When all this is over we're going to have to talk." **

**Jack started to reply but was cut off when a panicked Ianto flew into the office. "There's a bomb in the Hub!" **

**Jack jumped up "Alice go get Stephan, be prepared to evacuate immediately. Ianto take me to it." The two men were out of the office and down in the main hub in seconds. Ianto led him to a box sitting on Gwen's desk. "Someone dropped it off upstairs. I scanned it but nothing showed up. When I opened the box there was no mistaking for what it was." **

**Jack peered into the box, inside was a small piece of what was obliviously alien tech. It was definitely a bomb. But by the looks of it inactive. When Jack reached into the box the thing sprung alive and attached itself to Jack's upper arm. And started beeping. **

**Jack jumped back "Alice! Gwen! Get out of here!" He yelled. Alice darted out of his office and followed Gwen (who for once hadn't protested a direct order) He turned to Ianto "In nine minutes this thing is going to explode I want you as far from the Hub as you can get." He ordered his lover as he pushed him onto the invisible lift. " **

**Ianto protested and struggled "I won't leave you here!" **

"**I'll come back! Now go!" **

"**There'll be nothing left of you!" **

"**I can survive anything!" **

**Ianto twisted around in Jack's grip and caught his lips in a desperate kiss. When they parted Ianto allowed himself to be pushed onto the lift and watched as he ascended away from the Hub. I love you." He whispered as he reached the top. **

**Jack used his wrist strap to release Myfanwy then started piling things into his safe. He knew the bomb would never penetrate it. He slipped his coat off and folded it before gently placing it in the safe as well. With a sigh he returned to the main Hub. He sat down in the floor and silently said goodbye to Tosh and Grey whose bodies would undoubtedly be destroyed in the blast. The beeping got faster and faster. **

"**I love you too Ianto Jones." **

**Then there was darkness**

**The explosion knocked Ianto off his feet. Coughing, he staggered up and shook the dust and small pieces of debris off his shoulders. Glancing over his shoulder, he could see nothing but smoke as it drifted out of the hole that was once the Hub. He sighed and started around to the tourist entrance, praying that the other three had made it out in time. **

**He sighed in relief when he spotted Gwen, and Alice and Stephan behind her. They looked shaken, covered in dust, but unharmed. Gwen launched herself at him when she saw him, engulfing him in a terrified hug. While he and Jack had mourned Tosh and Owen, he knew it had affected Gwen more, that she wasn't as well acquainted with death as the two men. "It's alright Gwen, I'm fine." He smiled at her as he untangled himself. "Are you two okay?" He asked over her shoulder**

"**A little shaken but we'll be fine." Alice replied, holding a shaking Stephan close to her. **

"**Ianto? Is Jack…?" Gwen trailed off, unable to finish. **

**Ianto nodded, his stomach turning at the thought of Jack being blown apart "He said he'd come back, that he'd survive anything." But Ianto had his doubts. How could anyone, immortal or not, survive something like that. **

"**What are we going to do about…I mean his-" **

"**Leave that to me." Ianto had dealt with the more gruesome of Jack's deaths. Ones that Gwen knew nothing about. He nodded in Alice's direction "Take them and find someplace safe, I'll call you when I'm done." He kissed the top of her head and turned to Alice. **

"**Gwen's going to take you and Stephan someplace safe, I'm going to find Jack." **

**Alice nodded, grimacing at the thought of Ianto's job. "Bring him back Ianto, I still have things to patch over with him" **

**Ianto smiled and hugged Gwen once more before turning and running back to the Hub, hoping he got there before anyone else did. **

**He was in the darkness again. So alone. Scared. He wanted Ianto. **

**There was no one there yet. Ianto sighed in relief. He knew it wouldn't be long before Unit or the government would show up. He had climbed through an entrance only he and Jack knew about, making his way up the levels, the destruction becoming more apparent the higher he went. He was climbing over chunks of concrete by the time he got to the cells. Ianto refrained from looking into the cells, knowing what was under the giant blocks of concrete. **

**When he had managed to make his way into the main level he turned away, gagging. In the middle, clear of debris was a large bloody stain. Ianto was looking at the spot where Jack had stood seconds before the bomb had gone off. Shuddering in revulsion, Ianto looked around, trying to find something of Jack that was still recognizable. Digging through the rubble Ianto managed to find three pieces of Jack. His arm, with wrist strap still attached a thigh and a leg. **

**When he laid the parts beside each other he lost it. Throwing up whatever he had left in his stomach, Ianto was hunched over, tears pouring down his face and shuddering violently. Body parts didn't affect Ianto. Not anymore, too many years with Torchwood had made him immune to that. But it was Jack. He had run his hands over that thigh and that leg. The thought of those parts being all that was left of his lover was too much for Ianto to handle. **

**Pulling himself together, Ianto bundled the parts up and made his way back down into the sublevels. He had no idea how long it would take Jack to start regenerating, but he wanted to be far away from the Hub when it happened. **

**They stopped at Gwen's flat first, picking up Rhys and filling him in on what had happened. Gwen drove them to Ianto's next, she knew the Welshman had tech there that could help them. Gwen was in Ianto's kitchen when he called. **

"**Where are you?" He asked **

"**In your kitchen, I know you have tech here, and I have no idea where to go." **

"**Wait for me there, whoever did this can't monitor you there so it's safe for the time being." **

"**Did you find him?" She whispered. **

"…**yes…" It was said so low that Gwen almost missed it. **

"**Oh Ianto…" **

"**Its fine Gwen, I'll be there in a few minutes and we'll discuss it then." He disconnected and Gwen closed her phone with a sigh. What the hell were they going to do?**

**Ianto stopped at the warehouse he and Jack had found Myfanwy before going to his flat. He couldn't take Jack there, not with Alin there. It wasn't the most…comfortable place to revive, but only he and Jack knew the significance behind the warehouse. There was a small room near the back of the building, and that's where he placed Jack. A change of clothes, a note and a cell phone were placed beside the door in case Ianto didn't get back before Jack came back. **

"**I'll be back for you Jack." **

**Ianto entered his flat ten minutes later. He bypassed Gwen and went straight to his laptop. **

"**What are you doing?" Gwen asked as she watched him furiously type away. **

"**My laptop's connected to the Mainframe. Without Jack, it's the only way were going to learn anything." **

**Gwen made a noise of agreement and sat down, she wasn't near as good with the mainframe as Ianto and neither were as good as Tosh had been, but the young Welshman had proved his worth hacking into sites that before they were content to let Tosh handle. **

**It took Ianto forty five minutes to hack into John Frobisher's files. The man was the government's liaison with Torchwood and Ianto bet he would find what he was looking for there. And did he. Emails between Frobisher and Green, revealing to Ianto that the government had been spying on Torchwood for some time. He saved the emails to his computer for Jack to look at later and continued sifting through the data. What he found next had him resisting the urge to punk something. An order to kill. With Jack's name on it. As far as Ianto knew the government didn't know exactly what caused Jack's immortality. There were rumors of course, but most believed that Jack was just a time traveler. This meant they had plotted Jack's murder. **

**He spent another two hours on Frobisher's computer before he ran out of relevant information. He stood with a sigh and walked back into his living room. Gwen and Stephan were fast asleep on his couch, Gwen's arm wrapped protectively around her stomach. She had discovered she was pregnant three days ago. **

"**They were both exhausted." Alice said from the chair in the corner. **

"**I'm not surprised; today's been unusual even by Torchwood standards." **

"**He's dead isn't he?" It wasn't a question; Alice knew that bomb had killed Jack.**

"**Yes." Ianto wasn't going to lie to her. "He was blown up." **

**Alice swallowed hard "Will…will he come back?" **

"**I don't know." **

**Pain. Mind numbing horrific pain. That's all he felt. **

**Three hours later and they were nowhere closer to figuring it out. Gwen and Ianto had turned his small kitchen into a mini base and were going through every backed up archive file on Ianto's computer looking for a mention of the 456. They had a very small pile of printed off pages. One very detailed report written by Jack, a letter from the PM requesting Torchwood deliver the children, a copy of the order they had given Jack, and a report of Jack's refusal and the resulting punishment (Ianto didn't even look at that one, stuffing it under the others before Gwen could get a hold of it). **

**He scooted his chair back and stood and stretched. "Can you keep looking?" **

**Gwen nodded and took his seat "Where are you going?" She asked when she saw him grab his suit jacket from the counter. **

"**I need to check on Jack." He said quietly as he slipped out the door. **

**It was a five minute drive to the warehouse but it took Ianto twenty. He wasn't a hundred percent**

**Sure he wasn't being followed and so he drove in circles before finally parking a block or two down from the building. **

**When he reached the door an ear piercing scream cut through the air. Ianto threw open the door and sprinted across the floor, pulling open the door to the small room and stopped in his tracks. He was completely shocked. There on the floor, curled in a ball was a very much alive Jack Harkness. **

"**Jack!" He exclaimed and jogged over, dropping to his knees beside the trembling form of his lover. He reached out a hand and carded it through messy brown locks, soothing the obviously still in pain Jack. "Shh Jack, it's alright, you're fine now." He soothed as he gathered the naked body into his arms. A shaky, pale hand wrapped itself around his tie, and cloudy blue eyes looked up at him. **

"**I-I-Ianto?" **

"**I'm here Jack, I'm here." **

**Jack whimpered and curled his body closer to Ianto's, needed to be as close to his lover as he could. Ianto just held him, stroked his hair and whispered to him, like he did every time Jack revived. **

**They sat like that for what seemed like forever before Jack got control over his new body. Still curled into Ianto he asked "Did everyone make it out?" **

**Ianto pressed a kiss to the top of his head "Yeah, we're all fine. A bit shaken but in one piece." **

"**Good." He looked around curiously "How did I get here?" **

"**I brought you here." **

"**You went back into the Hub?" Jack asked in surprise.**

"**I wasn't going to leave you here! I waited until it was safe and used the back entrance." Ianto replied indignantly. **

"**How…how much was left of me?" He'd never been blown up before. It wasn't an experience he wanted to repeat. **

"**Not much. I…brought what I could find here, and hoped it was enough." Ianto said quietly. **

"**You didn't think I'd come back did you." Jack could tell that Ianto had had his doubts. And truthfully, while sitting there waiting, he had too." **

"**I wasn't sure, there…there was hardly anything left!" **

**Jack turned and hugged him, burying his head in Ianto's chest. "I won't leave you Ianto. I'll always come back." He smiled up at him then sighed "We need to go, can't let the world end on our watch." Jack struggled to his feet then looked down at his naked body. "Did you bring me clothes? Usually I'd be asking the opposite but…" **

**Ianto chuckled "It's not your usual '40's get up but it's what you had in the SUV." He handed Jack the sweats and t-shirt restraining another chuckle at the pout on Jack's face. As Jack dressed he asked "Have you found anything? I assume you've been using your laptop." **

"**Not much, only what the team from then put in the archives. It was mostly what we already knew." **

"**Have you talked to Frobisher? He might know something." **

**Ianto grimaced "Jack…Frobisher is the one who carried out the bombing; I found an order to kill on his computer. He's with the government on this one." He'd wait until they were back at his flat until he told Jack about the spying, they really needed to get out of here, and he didn't know who might have heard Jack's scream.**

**When Jack was finally dressed (The man was way too vain for his own good) they snuck out of the warehouse and made their way back to Ianto's flat. **

**Gwen was on the phone when they entered the flat, talking low and urgently to someone. Stephan was playing with some of the toys Ianto kept for his nephew, so Alice was the only one who noticed when they came in. **

"**Dad!" She whispered and jumped from the couch, hugging Jack tightly. Jack wrapped his arms around her, grateful that what had happened hadn't made Alice change her mind about him. Stephan looked up next, a blinding smile (obviously inherited from Jack) crossed his face and he himself at Jack **

"**Uncle Jack!" Then he frowned "Where were you?" **

**Jack let Alice go and scooped the little boy up "I was hiding; Ianto had to come and get me." **

"**Were there bad men after you?" He asked with all the innocence of a child. **

"**Yep, but I'm a very good hider so they can't find me now." No mention of the alien tech that was making the flat almost invisible to people who had no business knowing Ianto lived here.**

**Gwen had finally gotten off the phone and in a move similar to Stephan's, launched herself at Jack, wrapping her arms around his waist and squeezed. **

"**Gwen! I need to breathe!" **

**She released him with a sheepish look "I'm so glad you're alright!" Then she stepped back "I have someone who can help us." **

**This caught both men's attention and Jack set Stephan down, pushing the boy back to the toys. Ianto herded them into the kitchen, glancing at Jack when Alice followed. "Let her come, she might as well hear this as well."**

**Ianto's kitchen was a sight. It was already small and with Jack, him, Gwen, Alice and Rhys packed into it, it was almost uncomfortable. **

"**I was talking to a woman named Lois Habiba, she worked under Frobisher. She saw the kill order and has been trying to get in contact with us. I have no idea how she got my number. She said the PM has been in communicating with the 456. He's ordered a containment room to be built so the aliens can come here and they can negotiate with it." **

"**Can we meet up with her? We need someone on the inside and obviously none of us can do that." Jack asked; his brow furrowed as he tried to come up with some sort of plan. **

"**Yes. She said she'd met with me at a little café, she's scared of being found out but she knows what the government is doing is wrong." **

"**Okay then, set up the meeting for tomorrow morning. " When Gwen started to protest Jack finished "We're exhausted Gwen, nothing more is happening tonight except sleep." **

**Later, when Gwen and Rhys were on the pull out couch and Alice and Stephan were tucked away in his guest room, Ianto and Jack laid in his bed. Jack was draped over Ianto, his head laying over his heart, listening to the familiar and comforting beat. **

"**We'll beat this, won't we Jack?" Ianto whispered. Stroking a hand down the smooth back. **

"**Of course we will, we always do." **

**The next morning saw Gwen and Rhys off to talk with Lois; Alice had taken Stephan to school, saying that even if the world was ending he had to go to school. That left Ianto and Jack at the flat, waiting and pacing for Gwen to call. **

"**I feel useless!" Jack groaned as he fell back onto the couch. "Can't we do something?" he pouted. **

**Ianto leaned down and kissed the pout away "You know we can't, you're supposed to be dead, you can't go running around Cardiff. Or London." **

"**I'll be discreet!" **

"**No you won't"**

**The drive to London was a tense one. Gwen was anxious to meet with Lois and Rhys still wasn't sure what was going on. He really couldn't believe that the government was dealing with aliens. **

"**This Lois girl, what exactly is she gonna do?"**

"**Jack hopes she'll be able to get us in. We need to know what's going on in there." **

"**And why can't Jack barge in there himself." He still didn't trust Jack very much. Even though Gwen swore up and down he was with Ianto. **

"**Because the PM doesn't know he's immortal, he thinks Jack's dead. I think Jack wants to use that to our advantage. And if someone sees him and Ianto walking around Cardiff or London when not twenty-four hours ago our base was blown sky high? None of us want to know what that might bring." **

**That seemed to satisfy Rhys, who nodded and leaned back in his seat, content for the moment. **

**The ring of Ianto's cell pulled him and Jack apart. Jack had decided if he couldn't do anything productive about the case, he'd just do Ianto instead. Flushed and minus his shirt Ianto pushed Jack off him and grabbed his phone. **

"**Jones." **

"**Ianto! Are you alright!" Came the panicked voice of his sister. "I heard about the explosion on the Plass." **

"**I'm fine Rhi, I wasn't at work when it happened. " He lied convincingly. It sometimes disturbed him how easily he could lie to Rhiannon. **

"**Thank God. Is your man alright?" Now that her worry about her brother had been soothed her more nosy nature was coming through. **

**Ianto sighed, he really wished he hadn't told Rhiannon about Jack, but his sister wouldn't give up once she got a hold of something and her brother's love life was her topic of choice. **

"**Jack's fine. He…wasn't there either." The mention of his name had Jack listening more closely. **

"**Oh really! Did you two sneak off together?" Rhiannon teased. **

"**Rhi…" He warned. **

"**Fine, I just called to make sure you were okay, I'll let you get back to Jack now." **

"**What! How—"**

"**You just told me." She laughed as she hung up. **

**Ianto just stared at his phone before groaning and throwing it back onto the coffee table. **

**Jack resituated himself back onto Ianto, draping his body back between Ianto's legs. "Who was that?" **

"**My sister." Ianto sighed. **

"**She knows who I am?" Jack was surprised. Happy but surprised. **

"**Rhiannon had an overly keen interest in my personal life, when I went to see her she interrogated me until I told her." Ianto grumped. **

**Ianto didn't seem to happy about it "Did you not want to tell her about us?" **

"**You always complain when someone calls us a couple, so I wasn't really sure what to tell her." Ianto confessed quietly. **

"**I'm sorry Ianto; I just don't like the word couple." He never meant to make Ianto doubt their relationship "I consider you my partner. It's what I told Alice." **

"**She told me. It was a pleasant surprise." Ianto smile and pulled Jack up for a kiss, devouring his mouth until they had to pull away to breathe "You're mine as well." **

**Jack grinned and kissed him again, before divesting them both of their trousers and hoping Gwen wouldn't call in the next hour and a half…**


End file.
